Finally..don't yell at me

Hello everyone!

I believe I am long overdue to post on our blog but you know how things are ; / JK I know everyone is busy and that is not an excuse but frankly speaking I do not have an excuse nor am I creative enough to make one up on the spot so here it is..I'm being lazy. However, further in this post you will find wonderful color photographs of some of the trips I have been taking and I will let you in on some secrets too. On the occasion of Claire's 21st birthday I have 91 jello shots in my refrigerator and will be doing one for each of us. I hope that is only six but it may not even be six because they are so strong that I feel like dying after I have one. In my defense I did not make them but one of my alcoholic acquaintances did not want to make them at her place because her roomy is psycho and now I have a shelf and a half of jello shots. Yay college.

Since Christmas when our beloved Kelsey married the man of her dreams I have taken two trips. Spring break was too Orlando and Miami where I got to see Kelsey's beautiful apartment and some of the hottest Cuban men I have ever seen in my life. My friends and I got in contact with a promoter in Miami and he hooked us up! We got in VIP everywhere with free drinks and bottle service. We even got to see Fat Joe perform and I'll be damned if any of you remember any of his songs...we chilled on the beach, went on all the rides at Island of Adventures and we did some clubbing in NY. On the last day we went to the beach, packed, went to a club, and stayed out the whole night. Afterwards we came back to the hotel, picked up our bags, and began the long journey home. We had to take a flight to NY and then a bus for four more hours. So we just slept the whole way back. Did I mention that Reema came on this vacay with us and she got in everywhere using my gf's ID right after she used it..lucky Reem! Oh, Reem is doing great by the way. She has lost around 15 pounds and is one hot mama!

My second trip just ended last week. I went to Chicago for a big family event and actually got to see the city for the first time. It is such an amazing city and if you haven't been and you get the chance to go then I definitely recommend it. I went everywhere and my cousin from Houston came along too so it was nice taking her on her first taxi ride and all that city stuff. I got to see Reem and my mommy for a while too so that was nice.

This summer I have been in Boston, I went home for two weeks at the beginning and got to see Kelsey and Rachael then which was very exciting! I also got to see all the boys because they are always around oh, and Meredith! I had date night with Phil and Becky and we went to the restaurant she was working at and it was fun. (Masa sushi) So...when I was there I also got to see Akal and that was nice. We are finally friends and I'm good with everything :) OMG I'm forgetting the best part, I got to see Rowan too and Geetha came with me and we all went to a bar in Rice Village and Row and I got drunk and laid down on the sidewalk. Good times.

I worked all summer at a nonprofit and surprise, I got paid, but I was the Operations intern so I did their accounting and minimal bitchwork. I also took a class summer II and the prof was awesome so it was an enjoyable class.

Now I'm back to the last leg of summer and I survived Hurricane Irene! I deserve a shirt. It actually wasn't that bad just a lot of wind and rain. I went to the grocery store to stock up on my hurricane supplies..all that good houston hurricane training really helped me out except when I was walking home this one car slowed down and the lady was staring at me as I was juggling two gallons of water and gave me a really weird look. I guessed then that people weren't too worried up here about hurricanes except now NY is flooded and like 3 million people don't have power. Obama is right and this is far from over.

Pictures below!

With Kelsey in Orlando!

Yummy but just posing at the Hershey's store in Chicago

Too tan and on the Skydeck ledge at the Sears Tower. Interesting fact, they actually built this glass box and two other coming out of the building so if you look down you just see some glass between you and 103 floors below you to the street. 

Chicago skyline, you guys have gotta see this. Chicago architecture is unmatched bc of the Great Fire in Chicago all the best architects came and experimented. Do you see the vagina building amidst all the fallaces?

Oh and the best part. Chicago deep dish pizza from Lou Molnati's. You have to try it once before you die. 

Anyways, love you all and hope you're doing well and if not call me anytime :) Byeee

-Roma

Happy Birthday Claire!!!

Hey Claire,
I HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL BIRTHDAY!!!! I  miss you guys so much!! Can't wait to hear from everyone!
Love you guys!
Bri

When Dogs Fly...

Hey guys!
Hope everyone is enjoying whats left of the summer! I start in a few weeks :( but I'm super happy that I'm only taking 15 hours this semester. I felt like I needed a little break.
Well, this month has been such an awesome, crazy, busy month! We have been gone almost every single weekend that I didn't have to work! The first weekend we took a little weekend trip down to Mexico City Beach, FL. Lee's Aunt and Uncle own a home down there and invited us to  come for July 4th the weekend. On our way down, we stopped in Thomasville to see our little man, Tide. When I last talked to yall we were planning on naming him Drake, but after meeting him, we decided Tide was a better fit (especially for a future dock diving champ ;)) He was about 5 1/2 weeks old and already huge! When we first met him, he was wary of us. Pretty soon he warmed up and started playing, but I was nervous about him. Lee's parents picked the puppy for us since they had the pick of the litter and we could not drive down to pick out which one we wanted. I was nervous that they had picked the most unconfident dog in the litter. Although this is ok for most puppies, I wanted a confident dog that would be high energy and be able to handle many situations without problems. Yes, it is harder to handle a super confident dog, but easier to train them. If they want to learn, then its super easy to teach them new things. If you want a sports competitor, you almost always want a high energy, confident dog. I got lucky with Maddie.. she has a solid temperament, but is not high energy. I cannot work her as hard as I would like. Although she wants to learn, she physically cannot handle long periods of training. This was great for me to learn from, but now I am ready for a challenge. The dogs who challenge you in the beginning are the ones who end up being the best, because you absolutely HAVE to work with them constantly.

Anyway, after we visited Tide we went on down to the beach. It was so nice to hang out on the beach on saturday, we relaxed in the waves and chatted with Lee's cousins. Sunday we went out on Lee's uncles boat early in the morning to go fishing. The fishing was not too good. I caught the most with 5, but none were big enough to keep. After that we started setting up for the 4th of July party. It was a good party and I was able to get to know Lee's extended family a little better... including his cousin, Luke Bryan. Most of you probably don't know who he is but if you remember riding in my truck while I tortured you with country music, you probably heard him then ;). He even gave the whole party a little private concert on Lee's sisters guitar. Needless to say, it was a very cool night for me. He has been one of my favorite singers since he first came out when we were freshmen.

Mary Elizabeth (Lee's sister), J.D.(Lee's cousins son) and Luke Bryan

Two weeks later, Tide got to come home. I swear I was absolutely neurotic worrying about if I had everything ready. Lee's mom drove up from Thomasville to Atlanta for a doctors appointment, so she brought Tide to us. The first night was absolute torture. Tide howled all night, and not just regular puppy crying. I am talking full blown panicky screaming. It was AWFUL. Now, I have had 5 puppies since January. None acted like this on their first night home. With all of my preperation, with everything I had read, with all of the puppy classes I had been to; I could not for the life of me make him stop. I think I got an hour of sleep. Maybe. Now I was super sure that Lee's parents had picked the crap dog of the litter. Boy was I wrong. It is crazy to look back at that first week, full of frustration and regret that I had not picked the dog myself, and realize that I was completely wrong. Tide is the smartest damn puppy I have ever had. He responds quickly, he is alert, he loves to learn and he is by far the smartest dog in his puppy class. He is cautious about some situations, but with guidance, recovers quickly. He has really shown me that I was completely wrong about him and he has wiggled his little self right into my heart. I have no doubt that he is going to be awesome at everything he does and I can't wait to start training agility and dock diving with him.

Two weekends ago, we went to Thomasville to visit and we brought Tide and Maddie with us and got a picture of Doc, Tide and Maddie. It was super cool to get all three colors in a picture.

This past weekend we traveled to Cherokee, North Carolina for the Carolina Dock Dogs Dock Warrior Competition. It was Maddie's first competition with this club. Dock Dogs is very strict, but very prestigious. To be able to jump with this club is very big for us. The dog has to be able to stay at the end of the dock, as there is no double handling. For most dogs who LOVE this sport, it is super hard for them to stay. I have to make Maddie lie down if I even want a chance of her staying. For her first competition, she did awesome. She won second place in the Junior division. The junior division consists of dogs that jump between 10'0 and 14'11. The dogs jump in different waves to determine their divisions. Maddie jumped 14'10, which put her in first place in her division going into the finals. She jumped 14'11 in the finals which is awesome! She was beat by Sam, the Border Collie who is a PTSD Service Dog. We are ok being beat by such an awesome dog who does such amazing things for our soldiers! It was a great weekend, we made a lot of new friends and had a great bonding time with our dog! Plus we won $75! haha, it's not about the money, but its nice when Maddie pays for her own entry fees!

Maddie and Tide in the hotel room

CHOMP!



Me and the Champ on the dock!



Maddie with her trophy and ribbons. I don't think I have ever won a trophy as big as my dog has....



All the finalists from the Dixie Dock Dogs!



I hope everyone is doing well, I hope to hear from yall soon. Either on here or wherever! I miss you all and I totally agree with Kelsey, we need to plan a trip!!! Can't wait to hear from yall!
Bri